Finding Happiness Through Chosen Action

Perhaps it can't be pursued on its own

Photo by Yan Krukau

We have such a desire to be happy. But what if what we are saying is actually not possible? What if the desire to “be happy” is actually where we are going wrong?

This is a beautiful piece by Rabindranath Tagore:

Now, I have to admit that I’ve never liked this quote. I have an inherent sense of “duty” that has made me do hundreds of things in my life that I didn’t want to do. “Duty” felt like something I was required to do because of some virtue or because it was what a “good person” would do. As someone with a strong (and unreasonable) sense of responsibility in the world, this quote just worsened my guilt and worry about whether I was doing enough.

But I’m changing my mind.

Life is to be lived

Have you ever found yourself sitting on your favourite chair wondering what’s wrong with your life?

What if the biggest problem is that you’re sitting in your favourite chair? What if the key to finding happiness is DOING THINGS THAT WE ENJOY?

I wonder if our deep training to be spectators of other people doing interesting things has caused us to believe that if we sit and watch others do things, then this will make us happy. If we watch others sing and perform music, this will make us happy. If we watch others play sports in arenas, read other people’s books, and go to museums to see other people’s art, then we will be happy.

There it is again… that we will “be happy”.

But what if happiness is the resultant feeling of singing a song? What if happiness happens when we play the guitar, hit the ball, write the book, or paint the painting?

WHAT IF HAPPINESS IS THE RESULTING FEELING FROM DOING THINGS WE ENJOY?

What is Duty?

Duty is often defined as something that we feel you have to do because it is our moral responsibility.

Who determines these morals? Many believe that morals are determined by the societies that we’ve been raised in. Ideally, they serve to create harmonious connections between everyone and make a wonderful society.

So, how does duty to God, or whatever you believe in, work into this? Or duty to your soul’s path?

To sort this out, I feel like we have to release a lot of what has happened in our world over the last millennia or so. We have lived in such a top-down domination paradigm, that our sense of duty to “society”, “the powers that be”, “family”, and so on are completely twisted. And even the idea of having duty to God is twisted up in religions and used to control us.

So, let’s imagine that we all live in a village before all the craziness happened… or it is a future place where we will live (which is what I deeply believe 😊).

How would we determine who would take care of the children? Who would build the houses? Who would tend the gardens? Who would cook? Who would clean? Who would play music? Who would document the village’s history?

What if we each did the things that we loved doing? What if we did the things that we were inherently good at? What if we did the things that came easily to us and… BROUGHT US JOY?

What if our duty to society is to DO the things that BRING US JOY?

What if our duty to God is to DO the things that BRING US JOY?

What if our duty to our souls is to DO the things that BRING US JOY?

What would you like to DO out of DUTY to your SOUL? Write, dance, paint, change jobs, sing, play…

What is your soul wanting to do so that happiness pours out of you?

---

---

For more information about Katrina’s books, courses, and trainings, please visit KATRINABOS.CA. If you struggle with manifesting your desires, you may enjoy her latest book: “Divine Union of the Masculine & Feminine” where we deeply explore this inner dynamic of feminine inspiration & masculine manifestation.